Steelers play the blame game over poor start to season

A bizarre row has developed between Pittsburgh Steelerscoach Bill Cowher and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger about who is to blame for their poor start to the season.

The defending Super Bowl champions have won just twice in seven games following Sunday's 20-13 loss to the woeful Oakland Raiders.

Roethlisberger admits he is a shadow of the player who led the Steelers to Super Bowl success and threw a career-high four interceptions at the weekend, giving him 11 for the season compared to just six scoring passes.

He has also been sacked 19 times and could conceivably lose his job to back-up Charlie Batch.

"It starts with me. I've got to start playing better and right now I'm letting the whole team down," the out-of-synch passer insisted. "Our defense is playing good, our offensive line plays good, our receivers do good and it seems like one guy makes a mistake - and that's me."

But Cowher doesn't see it that way and said: "Obviously there's a lot of disappointment to be sitting here at 2-5. I accept full responsibility for that.

"It starts with me. There's been a lot of frustration in the different ways we have found to lose. The bottom line is we have lost.

"Each of us is going to have to do more and that starts with me. The focus right now is to win a football game and get out of this funk we're in."

But life doesn't get any easier for the Steelers as next up are the Denver Broncos, still smarting after a narrow loss to the red-hot Indianapolis Colts last weekend.

New York Jets coach Eric Mangini has dismissed reports star running back Curtis Martin is finished for the season and that he may retire.

The rusher has a serious knee injury but Mangini insists he may return to practice sooner rather than later.

"What I'm going by is the conversations that I've had with Curtis, and we talk quite regularly," said the coach.

And linebacker Jonathan Vilma added: "Every time I ask Curtis, he says he's doing well. I hope that if and whenever he does come back, he comes back and plays well."

Experienced Chris Claiborne has joined the banged-up New York Giants to cure their injury woes at linebacker.

They moved for the former Minnesota Vikings and St Louis Rams player, the ninth overall pick by the Detroit Lions n the 1999 draft, after Brandon Short suffered a quadriceps injury in Sunday's 17-3 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The victory lifted the Giants to a 5-2 record and strengthened their lead in the NFC East but they need depth in their defense as they are already without Lavar Arrington, who suffered a season-ending Achilles' tendon injury in the previous victory against the Dallas Cowboys.

Claiborne signed with the Vikings as an unrestricted free agent in 2003 and started all 24 games over the next two seasons. But he was released when he suffered a patella tendon injury from which he has now fully recovered.